Crowning Glory for Stirling Palace

A new, hand-woven tapestry depicting the Unicorn at Bay has been unveiled in the recently opened James V Palace at Stirling Castle.

The display of the tapestry also marks a funding milestone for the charitable foundation that made the project possible.

The 3.3m by 3.8m tapestry is the fifth in the series of seven to be specially commissioned to hang in the newly opened attraction within Stirling Castle.

The designs are based on a collection of original 16th century Flemish tapestries titled The Hunt of the Unicorn held in the Cloisters Museum at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York as research has shown that the Scottish royal collection also included a series depicting ‘the historie of the unicorne’.

I was up in Orkney at the beginning of the week to photograph sites for next year's Historic Scotland brochures and guide books. Like the previous years, the weather was challenging with only about a minute and a half of sunshine between the horizontal rain. Luckily the second day was better resulting in the shot above taken at the magnificent Ring of Brodgar.

If you haven't been, I would recommend a visit. It is a fantastically varied group of islands with plenty to see and do, including a number of sites cared for by Historic Scotland. More info here.

Andrew Murray: The Running Man

Dr Andrew Murray photographed on Portobello Beach after completing his Scotland to Sahara challenge which involved running 2650 miles in 78 days to raise money in an attempt to reduce poverty in the South Gobi region of Mongolia.

For more information and to donate click here.

Whisky Fit for a Prince

I was commissioned by The Glenmorangie Company to photograph the opening of their new bottling facility in Livingston which was opened by HRH The Duke of York yesterday.

HRH The Duke of York visited the Glenmorangie Distillery in Tain, Ross-shire, in 1997, when a special cask was laid down in his name.

Now, 14 years on, the cask was bottled as a ‘Special Reserve’ when The Duke of York performed the Royal Opening of The Company’s new production facility at the Alba Business Park in Livingston, West Lothian.

HRH was be presented with 270 bottles, which will go to his chosen charities for auction.

Scottish Food and Drink Fortnight

Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight is an annual celebration of Scottish produce which runs from 3-18 September. It champions the wide variety of homegrown quality food and drink available in Scotland and encourages more people to Eat Scottish.

To mark the Fortnight, eleven of Scotland’s top chefs are pledging a fortnight of their time to young chefs who are hoping to make their mark in the Scottish catering and hospitality sector. Chefs committed include Nick Nairn, Martin Wishart, Andrew Fairlie, Albert Roux, Dominic Jack, Tom Lewis, Kevin McGillivray, John Quigley and Joe Queen.

Chefs Roy Brett, Ondine, and John Paul, Macdonald Marine Hotel, will be joined by Fergus Ewing, minister for energy, enterprise and tourism to launch the scheme at Craigie’s Farm showing their support for young Scottish talent.